Hi everyone,I have recently bought a frame drum in Turkey. I originally thought it was a bendir but I'm pretty sure it's a tar since it has no snare gut.I have scoured the internet and found no info on tuning pitches. This thing is a 16" goat skin tar and I have tuned it to a D, [D2 I think]. Does anything know anything about tuning range for this kind of drum and if it's OK to tune it to a D, or even an E.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I don't really know where to turn.

It's a folk instrument and the traditional drums do not have adjustable heads, so maybe there is no correct setting. Possibly traditional players sprinkle some water on the head to bring it where they prefer. I would think a clear resonant bass note would be the place to start, using your fingers to raise the pitch while playing.

I don't think there is a correct tuning as such, just a tuning that the drum sounds best at, or a small range. I think, in retrospect, that the D2 is too high for the resonant bass you mention. This weekend I will take it down a few semitones. Thank you so much for your help in this topic. It means a lot, information on working with these kinds of drums is so sparse on the internet, which is ironic given their age.

I have owned several frame drums in the past, and am going to buy a 16" tar soon actually. The ones I have used are tuned using a small tuning key. There are holes around the bottom of the shell that you tighten or loosen. Frame drums have a wide tuning range, there is no requirement. You'll be able to tell if the head is too tight fairly easily. I'd say there's a little over a half octave of good notes you can tune one of these to before it either is too loose or too tight.